Cambodia on Tuesday inaugurated a new container terminal of the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, turning the port as a large hub for logistics supply and goods collection and distribution.

The inauguration ceremony was presided over by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue and was attended by 15,000 participants, including senior government officials, diplomats, residents and students.

The construction of the 10-hectare terminal was begun in March, 2011 by Shanghai Construction (Group) General Company with a soft loan of $28.2 million financed by the Government of China, Hun Sen said at the event.

He said the terminal has a total capacity of 120,000 TEUs (20- foot equivalent unit) per year and it consists of a wharf platform enabling two 5,000 tons of container berths.

“It is a modern container port. This is a new achievement in Cambodia’s transportation development,” the premier said, adding that the new terminal is to respond to the growing economic size.

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday blasted former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Thai opposition activists for what he said were attempts to use Cambodia as a cudgel to score political points on sensitive issues back home.

Hun Sen was apparently reacting to a protest in Bangkok yesterday organised to oppose any International Court of Justice ruling on the Preah Vihear territory dispute, which is expected later this year.

Taking that as his launching pad, he said that Abhisit, whose Democratic Party shares political views with the protesters, had to “submit evidence” backing claims he’s made in the past about dealings between the two countries over a resource-rich overlapping claims area in the Gulf of Thailand.

“This former prime minister was always accusing former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of benefiting from Cambodia over an oil and gas deal in the overlapping claims area, and opposing the ICJ’s jurisdiction,” Hun Sen said at in Stung Treng’s Siem Bok district where he distributed land titles.

“Today, I would like Abhisit to bring up evidence. But if there is no evidence, don’t rally to cheat more than 60 million Thai people, [as well as] 14 million Cambodian people.”

The first weeks of 2013 in Thailand have been marked by heated rhetoric over territory surrounding the Preah Vihear temple, which the ICJ awarded to Cambodia in a 1962 ruling. Hearings over the disputed area around the ruin are taking place this April at the court in The Hague. Like the temple, the overlapping claims area has been a source of tension between Cambodia and Thailand.

Developing the 26,000-kilometre area, believed to be rich in oil and gas, could mean new streams of revenue for both countries, and for companies holding concessions. A memorandum of understanding to jointly explore the area was first signed in 2001, but in more than 10 years, hopes for the agreement’s implementation have risen and fallen depending on who is in office in Thailand. PP 22/1

“These days, Thailand’s internal politics has heated up, especially during campaigning (for the March 3 election for the job of Bangkok governor), and Abhisit Vejjajiva always links Cambodia to Thai internal issues,” the premier said during a land- titling ceremony in northern Stung Treng province.

He said Abhisit and Thai “yellow shirt” group have repeatedly claimed that former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has ” mysterious advantage” with Cambodia on the negotiation of the area of overlapping maritime claim.

They also alleged that the current Thai government was loosening struggle on the overland dispute, especially the Preah Vihear temple area, in order to get benefits from the overlapping maritime oil and gas area, Hun Sen said.

“You, Abhisit, should show evidence to prove your allegations whether what benefits Thaksin gets from Cambodia. If you have no evidence, it means that you are cheating more than 60 million Thais and over 14 million Cambodians,” he said. “This is your dirty politics.”

– Cambodia’s total population in 2012: 14.95 million.– Population under 18: 40% of total population or 5,98 million.– Population 18 and over: 60 % of total population or 8.97 million.

Let’s say 9 million.

Therefore, there can be no more than 9 million people having reached the voting age of 18. The NEC’s figure of 9.67 million voters is stunning. Moreover, out of these only 9 million people who are 18 and over, there are several hundreds thousands foreigners (immigrants) who don’t have voting right.

Therefore, the number of eligible voters should be notably below than 9 million.

How come the NEC could declare “9.67 million Cambodians eligible to vote in the July 2013 general elections”?

Actually, the voter list published by the NEC is inflated by at least 1 million names that are related to ghost (nonexistent) voters, underage people (below 18) and foreigners who are fraudulently/illegally registered as voters because the NEC is manipulating the voter list in order to inflate votes for the CPP at the forthcoming elections.